Grim Adventures Ch1
by Fangrock
Summary: What COULD have happened with the Mauraders durring there years at Hogwarts. Fifth Year Up
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! This is my fist attempt at a fan fiction, so please… PLEASE let me know what you think. If you like it, I'll continue!

I own none of these characters.

The rain drops lashing against the window were not exciting, the fire flickering feebly in the open hearth was merely providing warmth and light, otherwise the room was still, but still, his hear was racing. His hands fidgeted with the cushions of the couch, then the hem of his jeans, then with his hair. The tick of the clock on the mantel seamed to shatter the silence, once every second he jumped. Every minute when the louder click sounded, he squirmed and looked at the door. It was ten AM and he'd been sitting, waiting, jumping and looking at the door since eight.

Sirius Black was a wizard, he'd been raised in the wizarding world and knew the ways of wizards, but still he got butterflies at the beginning of ever before the start of term at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

He looked forward to so many things, playing Beater for Gryffindor's top rate Quidditch team, feasts in the Great Hall, weekend visits to Hogsmead village, learning to use new and more powerful spells, but most of all he looked forward to seeing his friends, Remus Lupin, James Potter and Peter Pettigrew.

So here he was, perched on the edge of the couch waiting for his mother and father to take him to Platform nine and three-quarters. He cursed the two years it would take him to be of age for his Apperation test, he would no longer need his insufferable pure-blood parents to coddle him then.

The door off the sitting room creaked open and his family entered. Mother, father, his younger brother and the house elf Kretcher, who spouted the same 'pure blood' filth as his parents.

"Come Sirius." The tone was one that a master might use on an insubordinate dog.

But still he obeyed, trotting up to the emerald green flames of the fire, stepping in and saying clearly, "King's Cross Station." The familiar spinning sensation was over almost instantly, and he stumbled out of the fire and into a small, cramped closet set aside for wizards traveling to London from the farther reaches of England. He exited quickly, so as not to be stepped on by whomever popped out of the fire next.--

"They almost couldn't bare to let him go!" His voice was clear and confident and full of disgust.

"Probably just afraid they'll end up with another disgrace to the family name." James chimed in.

"What would the Black's ever do with two Gryffindors under there roof Sirius?" Remus picked up the thread while admiring his shiny new prefects badge, pinned perfectly over his chest.

"Lock us in the basement and let us rot, no doubt." Sirius responded, misting the glass on the train window, staring into his own eyes, shuddering at how much like his mother's they were.

"Confident that Regalus will be in Slytherin then?" Lupin asked, still fingering the red and gold badge.

"Of course he will be, spouts that disgusting pure-blood trifle like a pro. But enough of my brothers shortcomings. Look what I nicked from Father's library." He reached deep into the pocket of his robes, a malicious grin on his face, and procured a horrid, dang green book. It was small enough to fit in the palm of his large hand, it's pages were stained with a rusty brownish color, and every few moments it seamed to expand and retract as if gasping for breath. Across the cover the title was sewn like brutal stitches. "Terrors of Transfiguration: Advanced Anamagus Magick"

The small boy who had not spoken yet, Peter Pettigrew, shuttered and scooted away from the book. Lupin looked interested, his eyes caught Sirius' and he smiled, flattered that the handsome boy really cared enough about him to risk stealing something so disgusting from his father's secret store. James reached out and lifted the book off Sirius' hand, thumbing through it eagerly. The reservation that stems from fear was absent in James' pursual of the text. He was utterly unafraid of this task they had set themselves, becoming Anamagus, able to transform into animals at will.

"Black my man, this may just be the key we need." Potter passed the book to Remus, who gingerly opened the front cover, just as the thing took a breath.

"Ugh, this might actually work." The look on the werewolf's face spoke fathoms.


	2. Chapter 2

The black haired boy smirked, taking the book back from Remus and slipping it into his pocket. It continued to gasp for breath, resting against his side. "Remus, if you don't stop preening sbout that badge I'll rip it off your chest!" James finally said after the werewolf had adjusted it yet again.

"You're just jealous, Potter," Sirius slurred, "'Cause now Mooney can give you detentions for sneaking around and snogging all the skirts in Gryffindor!"

James snorted. He couldn't care less about not having been made prefect. Sirius, on the other hand, gave a roughish grin that covered his true feelings. He was the first in a long line of Blacks not to have earned this high honor, a fact which his parents had reminded him of repeatedly over the summer. Not that he cared what they thought, he was just used to topping out in everything.

"Now Black's sticking up for a werewolf! The world is a twisted place men," James joshed. He took great pride in having befriended Sirius Black, the Blackest sheep any family ever had.

"W-werewolf?" Sirius jumped up, eyes wide in mock fear. "M-Mooney… You're a werewolf?" He looked at his sandy-haired friend and feigned a faint, landing in Peter's lap from which he was unceremoniously dumped onto the floor. He continued to lie in a heap on the floor until Lupin entered into his game. "Yes, yes I am. And I seek prey!" The werewolf sidled down beside Sirius and leaned toward him, breathing on his neck.

"Uh-oh, if you turn him we'll be even, Lupin. Two NORMAL people against two FREAKS!" James chuckled, watching the scene play out before him.

Sirius lay completely still, waiting. Mooney leaned in closer and dramatically feigned sinking his teeth into Sirius' flesh, but in reality simply knelt over him and pressed his lips against the other boys pulse-point.

"NO!" James cried, flinging himself to the other side of their compartment. Sirius sat up and howled, stretching his arms in from of him and moaning.

"Wait, Black, wolves don't MOAN! That's infiri," Lupin rolled his eyes.

"Oh, right. You don't do that arm thing… But I'm pretty sure wolves moan!" Black replied, snickering and avoiding a smack to the head by inches.

The other two laughed at the innuendo and at the same time the train started to slow. 'I'm home,' thought Sirius as they stepped out of the train and into Hogsmead station. The castle was gleaming like a thousand diamonds, light flooded through the windows and onto the grounds in silent, warm welcome. "I've got to go and make sure the first years get out alright," murmured Lupin, standing, re-adjusting his badge when James wasn't looking, and exiting the compartment.

"So, tell me, James. Are you going to ask her out this year?" Sirius turned the conversation at once to romance as they pulled their things together in preparation to exit the train.

Potter rolled his eyes at his best friend. They each had a borderline-unhealthy obsession with one another's love lives. "I don't know, Black. She hangs around with Snape! I can't see myself bringing him along on dates."

It was Sirius' turn to roll his eyes, though James did have a point. Once Peter had left the compartment, having felt the other two's eyes asking him to leave, James said, "I think you should tell them, Sirius. Mooney won't care and Peter will feel however we tell him to feel." His tone was stern, not a look often found upon James Potter's face. He was making his broodingly hot best friend sweat.

"Potter, I'm already a disgrace to the family name. Do I have to be a freak as well?" He knew, deep down, that his other friends wouldn't care about his secret, but he was still nervous. Nervous because Sirius Black would never be scared of anything.

"You're ALREADY a freak to us, Sirius. This'll just be the cherry on top of the double-chocolate-fudge sundae that is Sirius Black, family disgrace and mighty maurader," James replied, utterly straight-faced.

"If you ever refer to me as a double-fudge sundae again, Potter, I'll kill you," was all the handsome youth said before exiting the train to find his other two friends, already waiting in a carriage.

James joined them only a moment later, snickering about the private conversation they'd had. Black shot him a lethal look, which only proved to make James laugh that much harder. Lupin and Pettigrew both tried to ferret out of them the reason for their respective moods, but failed miserably. All they got from James was more laughter, and from Sirius a glare.

Dinner had itself out in much the same way, with the addition of the three other mauraders pestering James about asking a certain red-haired Gryffindor girl out.


	3. Chapter 3

The marauders awoke to the first day of term well rested and ready to learn… Well, three of the four were well rested. Sirius had found sleep a flighty temptress, and of the other remaining three only Remus woke ready to learn. So that was the way they ventured to the Great Hall. Nearly-Headless Nick greeted them at the table, looking downright mournful. Something about Peeves the Poltergeist still being able to consume food had gotten him down. And Peeves was of course not helping matters by flying around the table showing half-chewed kippers to the disgusted student body.

They were handed their class schedules. All of them had passed their exams with high marks the year before and had been allowed into the classes they had wanted.

"Alright, guys. Mooney has three weeks to full-moon. I heard McGonagall talking to Professor Binns last night. The astronomy tower's free tonight- the classes won't start gazing until… well, the full moon. So we can go there to practice our 'you-know-what's'," James said during their break between Potions and Care of Magical Creatures. The others nodded their consent, though, of course, Mooney reminded them that they didn't have to do this from him. They replied with rude stares and assurances that he should shut his trap.

As James and Sirius walked to Care of Magical Creatures together, having ditched Peter and lost Remus as he told off some first years, the same argument broke out again. "Just tell them, Sirius. Tonight. That way it'll be over with and we can go back to being friends that hide nothing from each other. The marauders are brothers- real brothers. They won't care," he broke off in time to see his mate look away.

When Sirius spoke his voice was deep and hoarse, very un-Sirius-like. "But what if they DO care, James? Then what will we be? Not the marauders anymore. The gang could break up because I'm a freak." He took a short breath, willing his emotions back under his control. The rest of the students were gathering on the grounds outside the Forbidden Forest, between greenhouse three and Hagrid, the gamekeeper.

James bristled when Sirius called himself a freak, but kept from saying anything in fear of slipping up in front of the rest of the class. Their conversation died away as the class turned it's attention to the pixies they were studying.

…

"Free at last!" Black cried, throwing himself on a vacant couch in the Gryffindor common room. He laid his head against one end and spread his legs out across the other cushions. James took a high wing-backed chair by the fire, Peter a similar one and Lupin, left with no place else, shoved Sirius' legs off the couch and settled himself in. Less than a moment later, Sirius shoved his legs onto Lupin's lap.

"Always got to have the best, haven't you Black?" Lupin asked in a rather snarky tone, glancing down at his friend's feet which were resting one the arm of the couch right by his nose. Peter and James laughed, Black only shrugged and retrieved his homework from the bag beside him. Transfiguration was easily his best subject, considering all the marauder's recent meddling in it. Of course, Peter was not at all up to James and Sirius in his school work, and none of them matched Lupin in sheer brain power.

Time seemed to drag during dinner for Black and Potter- they were so looking forward to delving into the darker sides of transfiguration. And again in the common room time dragged slowly as each Gryffindor meandered slowly to their dormitories. James had his invisibility cloak already tucked up under his robes, and Lupin had in his hand a piece of parchment that, although appearing blank at first glance, was actually a tentative map of the castle. The book was stashed up Black's sleeve.

"Finally!" the muscular, handsome marauder whispered when at last Lilly and her friend exited the common room for the girl's dormitories. James was still staring up the stairs rather longingly, and that had not escaped the notice of the other three standing up.

"Ja-a-ames!" Sirius said, his face mere inches away from the other's face.

"Wha-oh. Yeah, let's go." Finally he stood, threw the cloak over the four of them (no easy task), and happened to miss Sirius' rolling eyes.

…

An explosion of light flashed from the windows of the Astronomy tower and the four young marauders blinked back the accompanying momentary blindness. James groaned, picking himself up off the floor. "What'd I do wrong that time, Mooney?" he grumbled, rubbing the elbow he had smacked on the hardwood floor. Sirius dusted off bits of rubble from James' robes and glanced towards the werewolf.

Remus gingerly flipped through the strange green book for a moment before nodding. "You need to fix your mind on the outcome. Imagine yourself as your familiar. And Sirius, you keep getting thrown back because you won't accept that your familiar isn't a giant bloody dragon! It's a dog- a dog Sirius!" Lupin rolled his eyes and snapped the book shut, fixing Black with a rather annoyed look.

"Well you'd want your familiar changed too if you had to turn into a flaming mongrel!" Black replied cheekily, nursing his wounded pride. James smiled at the exchange- they'd had it many times before.

"Oh, right! Because becoming a damned werewolf is MUCH better than being a dog!" Lupin scoffed, annoyed yet again at his friend's insensitivity. At least _he HAD a choice about when and how he changed form. At least He maintained some sense of self and didn't feel like a murdered every full moon. He was close to voicing his feelings when Sirius said, "I'm sorry, Mooney. I know this is hard for you. We'll just have to be fleabags together, eh?" Remus blinked in astonishment- understanding and compassion were not Sirius Black's strong points. The other two marauders looked on in silence. Perhaps they were sensing a change in the air._


	4. Chapter 4

"No, no! James, concentrate!" Remus barked, tension high and patience thinning. They'd been sneaking up to the Astronomy tower every night for a week now and the spells still weren't anywhere near perfect. James had just blown himself back into the wall for the third time in a row.

Sirius ran an aggravated hand through his hair. "What are you so bloody distracted by, Potter? We've got two weeks to get these things right or Mooney has to go through the full moon alone! Again!!" Though he himself was no close to transforming, he felt that his best friend wasn't trying hard enough. James pushed himself off the ground and grumbled a few unpleasant words before turning to Sirius expectantly.

The raven-haired male cleared his throat and spread his arms. He took a deep breath and pointed his wand at himself, a very odd feeling all on its own. He said the complicated spell, concentrating on the outcome and fully expecting to be thrown back just as James had been.

BAM! Sirius hit on his hands and feet in the middle of the floor, eye to eye with Lupin's crotch. Quickly he turned his head away, making himself dizzy. When he put his hand to his head to steady himself, his first reaction was to wonder how long it had been since he had trimmed his nails, and then he saw the arm that crossed his vision… It was covered in thick, black… fur!

"You did tit! Sirius, you dog, you're a dog! A bloody huge one!" Sirius looked up at James and smiled, or at least he thought he was smiling. Lupin let out a whoop of excitement and knelt to hug Sirius, something the latter never would have allowed had he been human. But being a dog the nails scratching behind his ears, the hand buried in this mane of thick, black hair was comforting. It was as if Lupin knew, really knew… what he wanted.

"Alright, Sirius," James said, smiling, but then his smile faltered… "You… can change back, right?" James looked to Lupin, who opened the strange, green book and began to read. Sirius' tail had stopped wagging in triumph. If a dog could be said to look nervous, ears pinned back and eyes narrowed, then Sirius looked nervous.

Peter, James, and Sirius all stared at Lupin as his steel-grey eyes flew across the text of the book. Sirius felt like whimpering, but refrained, just barely. James put a hand in his best friend's hair and chewed on his bottom lip nervously. From time to time Mooney would open his mouth as though about to remedy the situation, but each time he would shake his head and return to perusing the text. "Here!" he finally roared triumphantly. "One must concentrate on their physical body as it is without transformation. One must also have a strong will to become human again."

"Well, that's alright then! Come on, Black, turn back!" James said, looking utterly relieved. Remus looked relieved as well, but slightly less so, as if wondering if it could really be so simple as James put ti. Sirius sat in his new form, nodded, and closed his eyes. The very air seemed to hold it's breath in anticipation, even the owls, generally heard easily from the owlery from the Astronomy tower, were silent. A moment passed, everyone was still, another moment passed, Peter began to fidget. James tried scrunching his own eyes closed and opening them. Sirius the dog still sat before them, immobile, eyes shut tight, breathing labored. Another long moment and Remus re-opened the book, looking for anything he might have missed, any key or clue, perhaps an incantation.


End file.
